nextgenerationmarvel | Looking Forward to the Future (Katie)

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Looking Forward to the Future (Katie)

WHEN: Saturday night
WHERE: Bistro Provencal, Manhattan
WHO: Franklin Richards, Katie Power
WHAT: Franklin invites Katie on a date. There are motivations involved.

Franklin had arranged for the invitation to be sent formally, via telegram with roses, rather than doing the ordinary thing like texting or phoning. This in and of itself was not usual, but not unprecedented- Franklin enjoyed the occasional over-the-top romantic gesture. Booking the restaurant was more difficult than he'd anticipated- but thankfully he had an in with the owner, so they not only got their table, but a private booth. And an exclusive tasting menu.

Interestingly, that conversation with Stephanie about the reservation had led to the next and really, the most important item on the list. Franklin could synthesize a diamond with his powers, but the fact was, they weren't quite as nice as professionally cut ones. Apparently she had significant connections in the diamond trade and she'd managed to find him some tasteful, yet stunningly gorgeous diamonds that happened to come from Canada- which meant a fair bit to Franklin, because he didn't want to support some warlord in Sierra Leone with Katie's engagement ring. The diamond, thus selected, had been crafted to a ring to Katie's measurements.

And with the material preparations all more or less seen to, he had just enough to to start getting really nervous. Was everything perfect? And hoping, hoping, that she would say yes. Then he sat down for a moment and realized that more than anything else in the world, he loved Katie and wanted to be with her. And that he wanted to take the leap. He took a deep breath and put on his suit, a new one he'd bought for the occasion and teleported over to the restaurant, about fifteen minutes before she arrived, to see that subtle decor changes had been made to their booth, candles quietly selected for perfect ambiance, a subtle rerouting of traffic giving them an extremely high degree of privacy.

And even for all the time that they'd known each other, and been together, he just knew that Katie would take his breath away when she walked in.

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Katie's "something was up" radar was tingling ever so slightly. As a scientist, she was trained to study patterns and analyze relevant spikes. And while this was not unprecedented, it hadn't been all that long since the last grand romantic gesture.

Still, it had been a good opportunity to break out the new little black dress she'd bought when Julie had been in town to go shopping with her and their mother.

She walked in, blinking slightly at the chance in lighting from outside.

Franklin did wonder how long he could keep things a secret from Katie. It was never that long, but he'd try and keep the surprise going as long as possible. He stood up and went over to where she was, finding that, just as always, she was breathtaking.

"... I think you're the most beautiful woman in the world." He managed to breathe out at last, crossing over to her and kissing her. "Also, hi. Hope you had a good day at work today." He grinned down at her.

Katie embraced and kissed him, grinning when they broke.

"You're not bad looking yourself, you know," she said. "Not bad, actually. I think we're really close to some theoretical energy breakthroughs. How about you? How goes teaching the next generation?"

"It's good. Got some tough kids in among the freshmen, but we'll have them sorted out soon enough." Franklin grinned. "You'll have to tell me all about it." He took her hand though, and led her over to their booth. "I hope you're hungry, I'm told the tasting menu's pretty big."

After she sat down, he went to sit down. "I have to say, that dress looks incredible. I'll probably say that a lot tonight." He laughed and took her hand, feeling his heart skip a little bit of a beat.

The waiter came, with the bill of fare for the tasting menu and taking drink orders.

"You like it? It was my sister's idea. She said my wardrobe was 'boring.'"

Katie laughed and shrugged. "I swear, Hollywood is messing with her head sometimes."

"Your wardrobe is not boring. I don't know what she's talking about." Franklin replied with a laugh. He always thought Katie was immaculately dressed. Even when she wasn't, actually. "I can't imagine being in Hollywood. It's hard enough being recognized in Westchester sometimes."

The first course arrived, a delicate broth with a perfectly cooked lobster ravioli inside it. Behind the scenes, the food had been subtly enhanced by the chef, who had a mutant power to impart memories through sensory experiences. Tasting this course would bring images of a quiet, beautiful seaside New England town, where the seafood came from.

It was nearly as breathtaking as Katie was. "... that's incredible." Franklin's eyes went a little wide.

"Holy heck," Katie said, "that is good."

"She likes it though," she added, of Julie. "And it's close to her girlfriend."

"I've been told the chef here has food powers." Franklin finished the first course for a moment, before Katie spoke again.

"Always an important thing. I can identify. Sometimes that hour drive away from you seems really long." Funny enough, he had a long-term and permanent solution to that in mind.

Two more courses followed, a tiny but immaculate vegetable salad with top-market balsamic vinegar (from an artisanal producer in Modena) and a palate cleanser of sorbet. Also, arriving was a selection of breads- walnut bread, bacon bread and a French baguette with a selection of butters and olive oils.

Katie had lived on both coasts, and in NYC most of her life. Plus, she'd been to outer space. Multiple times. So her tastes were very cosmopolitan. But this was definitely some of the best food she'd had.

"Food powers?" she asked. "Didn't even know there was such a thing."

Franklin had been a New Yorker just about his whole life, but his tastes traditionally leaned towards more conservative foods- he was a bit of a meat and potatoes man. But this was something else altogether. And there was something about the succession of smaller courses that was appealing.

The next course that arrived was a charcuterie platter, with a huge variety of cured meats, along with appropriate pickles and cheeses.

"I would've thought so not long ago, but I'm starting to wonder."

The platter in question had been 'programmed' with a sense memory of sitting by a fireplace in rural France. Franklin, feeling a little puckish, picked up a particularly delicious looking morsel and offered it to Katie by hand.

Katie leaned over a little, to let him place it in her mouth, licking her lips as she pulled away.

Crazy to think she'd ever been unable to stand him. Jealous about not being the baby of the group anymore, jealous that he might be smarter than her even though he was younger. If she could talk to her five year old self...

Yeah, she probably wouldn't have believed herself.

"How'd you find this place, anyway?"

"It's owned by a former student. Stephanie Shaw." Franklin admitted with a small grin. "I went on the grapevine to find a place and ended up on this place."

He was pretty sure his younger self would be appalled. It was amazing what a few years could do to one's attitudes. In any case, she needn't have worried. She was beautiful, a genius and a pretty badass hero too.

She sounded down right marriageable. But that was a few courses away yet.

Another palate cleanser arrived. And then the first of the 'main' courses arrived, a play on carbonara with pancetta and almost painfully fresh peas, served up with a sense memory of sitting in a trattoria in Rome, the Colosseum just in sight.

"One heckuva student body then," Katie said. "You did good, Franklin."

She grinned, as she ate. "I'm going to need a bigger lab coat after tonight, I think."

"And we're maybe in the mid-stretch now. We haven't even conceived of dessert yet." Franklin grinned and leaned over for a quick kiss. "And ditto with all my teaching clothes. And here comes another course."

The fish course as it happened, perfectly seared tuna steaks paired with a citrus reduction and peppery greens.

"Any crazy shenanigans at work? No monsters bothering you lately, I hope." After all, their brand of science tended to get a little crazy.

"Nothing really big since the super-villain attack a while back," Katie assured him. "I just occasionally have to keep Phil and Lem from creating an evil computer. I keep telling them, if it's venting steam and has unnecessary ornamentation, it's evil."

"Yes, we have enough evil computers in the world already. Evil computers, evil robots. What is up with advanced technology and drastic turns towards evil?" Franklin shook his head for a moment. "My computer's probably evil. Keeps switching around files on me." He was just about to say 'haunted' but stopped.

"Actually, had a particularly odd incident at the school earlier this week. A girl came in- as a ghost. We're not quite sure about permanent solutions, but I was able to make her a hard light shell so she can interact normally with the environment, and look like herself with an image inducer."

And as that tale came forward, delicately prepared game hen with potatoes dauphinoise appeared on the table.

"I'd be more skeptical about ghosts if I hadn't gotten my powers from a space-horse wizard and met space Whoopie Goldberg," Katie said.

She gave the mystery some thought though. "Hmmm. We might be able to find a way to interact with her ambient energy field, actually..."

"We live bizarre lives, it's very true. I've learned that most things that I thought were impossible when I was a small kid actually exist. We're trying to figure out something permanent.

... and yes, I should've known you'd have a potential solution instantly. Dr. Power strikes again." Franklin grinned. He actually loved having such an incredibly smart girlfriend. She was the best one. And he wanted to keep her.

Filets of wagyu beef appeared, the rich buttery meat only gently seasoned with sea salt and peppercorns.

"I might want to call in Jack on this one too," Katie admitted. "He's gotten real good with using the Density power for manipulating more than just his own. And any of the research from when Doctor Richards and Doctor Doom cured Kitty Pryde..."

She stopped. "Sorry, science rambling."

"I love your science rambling, Katie. Don't need to apologize." But he was going to steal another kiss, because how could he not do so.

A round of various sorbets appeared, indicating that the dinner was moving from the entree to the dessert phase.

"I hope you're ready for dessert." Franklin reached out to take her hand. And for other things too. It was hard not to feel just a little nervous.

Katie let him take her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Oh yeah," she said. "Assuming I don't explode afterwards."

Following the sorbets came the first dessert course, a creme brulee delicately flavoured with AAA maple syrup, garnished with fresh raspberries. The sense memory from this dessert was of a warm meal in a sugar shack in Quebec, looking out at new-fallen snow.

"I know." Franklin laughed. "And wow, that looks incredible." He took a raspberry and offered it to her.

Katie accepted the raspberry, licking her lips afterwards.

"I am going to need to eat rice cakes for a year after this."

Two more courses of dessert followed. Franklin, personally, was glad that he had a rather rapid metabolism, because otherwise, he'd be unable to physically move enough to do what he was going to be doing soon.

Franklin took a little bit of a breath and then smiled at Katie. "I want you to close your eyes for a moment. And no peeking."

Yeah, she was definitely going to need to hit the gym extra hard this week.

Now this, this had her attention. "Okay, no peeking. Promise."

Hiding the ring was easy when you could simply teleport instantly from place to place, and shunt things off into a small pocket dimension. Franklin retrieved the ring and got down on one knee. He took a deep breath.

"You can open your eyes now." Franklin said, looking up at her.

She opened her eyes. "Oh. Oh! Oh my God... You're..."

Her eyes lit up when she smiled. "Yes."

Everything just stopped for a second, in the space between Katie realizing what could happen and her 'yes', just as Franklin was going to get his line in.

"Katie." He spoke her name almost like a prayer- for really, he believed in her more than anything else in his life. He took her hand and started to slip the ring on. "You take my breath away. I love you so much and I can't believe how lucky I am. How unimaginably lucky I am to have you by my side."

He managed to slip it on, relieved that it fit perfectly. "Well, just for tradition's sake ... let's make it formal." He laughed slightly. "Katie, will you marry me?"

Another grin.

"I've loved you ever since I stopped thinking you were a stupid baby," Katie told him. "I can't think of anyone I'd rather spend the rest of my life with.

"Yes, yes I will."

The ring slipped onto her finger, Franklin got back up enough to kiss her, long and sweet.

"Me either. I've always loved you too."

He leaned in to kiss her again.

She leaned in and kissed him as well, holding it long and true.

"Love you."

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Looking Forward to the Future (Katie)

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AND OVER A MONTH LATER (And a timeleap of maybe 30-40 minutes)

Re: AND OVER A MONTH LATER (And a timeleap of maybe 30-40 minutes)

Re: AND OVER A MONTH LATER (And a timeleap of maybe 30-40 minutes)

Re: AND OVER A MONTH LATER (And a timeleap of maybe 30-40 minutes)

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